Trump said to be considering reclassification of marijuana

Bloomberg - Trump is said to be considering directing his administration to have marijuana reclassified as a drug with a lower potential for dependency—on the same level as ketamine, Tylenol with codeine, and anabolic steroids.

• Such a move would make it easier to buy and sell it, ease tax burdens, help draw in more mainstream investors, and bolster medical research. But the government would first need to finish a rulemaking process on hold since January.
• Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who’s spoken often about his own experiences with addiction, has said widespread state legalization and decriminalization offer a chance to study real-world effects.
• Legislation around cannabis is a patchwork. Though it’s banned federally, many states have legalized the drug for recreational use, opening the door for an industry valued at about $30 billion last year.
• Meanwhile, hemp-derived products have been around for years, thanks to a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill, giving rise to a thriving market for cannabis cocktails and THC beverages—that even enticed Target—but which has prompted Congress to clamp down.
• Here’s what “rescheduling” marijuana would mean and how legal weed has changed the US, for better or for worse.

Axios -   Public sentiment on pot use has been shifting for the past half-century, with Americans increasingly in favor of it. According to a recent Gallup poll, 64% support legalization, up from 36% in 2005.